I think you can find a place for Merkley at the trade deadline on a bad team after they rent out their players like Arizona may move Chychrun, Ghost, and Stecher. I don't think Merkley will get moved until then at the earliest but he may just end up a throw-in for another deal and let that team move Merkley elsewhere. We'll see. I don't blame him for requesting a trade and I don't blame the Sharks for not giving him an NHL opportunity. I think he deserved it over Cicek but both are bad options at this stage as neither earned it.